estate

American  

[ih-steyt] / ɪˈsteɪt /

noun

• estates
  plural

1. a piece of landed property, especially one of large extent with an elaborate house on it.

   to have an estate in the country.

2. Law.

   1. property or possessions.

   2. the legal position or status of an owner, considered with respect to property owned in land or other things.

   3. the degree or quantity of interest that a person has in land with respect to the nature of the right, its duration, or its relation to the rights of others.

   4. interest, ownership, or property in land or other things.

   5. the property of a deceased person, a bankrupt, etc., viewed as an aggregate.

3. British. a housing development.

4. a period or condition of life.

   to attain to man's estate.

5. a major political or social group or class, especially one once having specific political powers, as the clergy, nobles, and commons in France or the lords spiritual, lords temporal, and commons in England.

6. condition or circumstances with reference to worldly prosperity, estimation, etc.; social status or rank.

7. Obsolete. pomp or state.

8. Obsolete. high social status or rank.

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verb (used with object)

estated, estating

1. Obsolete. to establish in or as in an estate.

estate British  

/ ɪˈsteɪt /

noun

1. a large piece of landed property, esp in the country

2. a large area of property development, esp of new houses or ( trading estate ) of factories

3. property law

   1. property or possessions

   2. the nature of interest that a person has in land or other property, esp in relation to the right of others

   3. the total extent of the real and personal property of a deceased person or bankrupt

4. Also called: estate of the realm.  an order or class of persons in a political community, regarded collectively as a part of the body politic: usually regarded as being the lords temporal (peers), lords spiritual, and commons See also States General fourth estate

5. state, period, or position in life, esp with regard to wealth or social standing

   youth's estate

   a poor man's estate

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Synonym Usage

See property.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• estates
  plural

Etymology

Origin of estate

1175–1225; Middle English estat < Middle French; cognate with Provençal estat. See state

Explanation

The word estate is mostly used to mean a massive and fabulous house on a big piece of land. When you own an estate, it usually means you have a whole lot of money to go along with it. While an estate refers mostly to land and a house on it, it can also refer to all of a person’s possessions — and this sense of the word is often used after someone has died to refer to everything they are leaving behind. “You are set to inherit half of your grandfather’s estate, which includes his entire collection of stuffed raccoons.” In the past (and sometimes still) estate was also used to refer to someone’s state or condition, as well as his or her social standing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

estate estates estated

A clinic might collect $10,000 or $20,000 for a procedure — but it also needs surgeons, nurses, real estate, marketing and a constant stream of new patients.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026

Paxton’s pivot to real estate appears to be a way to supplement his salary as attorney general.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026

"If the pair remains together, they could eventually establish their own family group and help strengthen the beaver population across the estate," he added.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

Beyond his exploits in Sao Paulo's financial hub Faria Lima, high-flying Vorcaro invested in real estate, pharmaceuticals, textiles and even soccer.

From Barron's ● Sep. 5, 2026

It’s the type of estate that must be full of hidden doorways and secret passages, a sprawl of a mansion whose stairs creak and speak, while the windows rattle on the wind.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Originally developed as the summer playground for some of Cleveland’s wealthiest industrial titans, the village is defined by grand, Gilded Age lakefront estates and intact original carriage houses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Moreover, he’s a chess-playing, gourmet cooking, crime fiction aficionado and jazz lover equally comfortable on the mean streets of East Daygo and in the lush life of La Jolla Farms estates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

While some sporting estates remain opposed to "rewilding", others have embraced some of the elements of ecological restoration.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

She has been pushing for rules to protect caregiving children and to limit recovery from small estates, both of which would have helped Keller.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Back in the late ’60s and early ’70s when President Banda was building all the big estates near Wimbe and Kasungu, there was lots of work for the local men.

From "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba

Every class, from the estated proprietor to the humblest peasant, is loud in asserting that the story is an infamous falsehood.

From Lord Kilgobbin by Charles James Lever

In connection with each of these settlements Pynar uses the phrase, 'I find planted and estated.'

From The Land-War In Ireland (1870) A History For The Times by James Godkin

Had Thady Macdermot had ready money, it might have been well built; but though an estated gentleman, he had none.

From The Macdermots of Ballycloran by Anthony Trollope

"It is upon estated property I intend to raise this loan, sir," said his Lordship, angrily.

From Davenport Dunn, Volume 1 (of 2) A Man Of Our Day by Charles James Lever

At the institution many of the chief estated gentlemen of the kingdom were selected for the dignity.

From Collections and Recollections by George William Erskine Russell

Related Words

• area
• farm
• parcel
• plantation
• ranch
• residence